


The Swear Jar

by Umekopyon



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Ishimaru acts ridiculous, School Mode, Swear jar, T rating for naughty words, a little less ridiculous as the story goes on, i had a sads so i wrote this tripe, it's only gay if you want it to be, tbh I have no idea how to tag this, this whole thing is ridiculous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6419257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umekopyon/pseuds/Umekopyon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>School Mode.  Ishimaru is less than happy about certain classmates' inclinations towards profane language, so he devises a plan to fix that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was feeling pretty glum, so I decided to write something completely ridiculous to cheer myself up.
> 
> This is the result.
> 
> This is School Mode fic, and I kind of sort of took some inspiration from the Naegami doujinshi "Togami-kun wouldn't say that" by Yumemiya. But this isn't Naegami. It's not even shippy or anything in general (unless you wanna see it that way, I won't judge your life choices).
> 
> This is a two-part story, and the second part will be up within the next day or two~

Kiyotaka Ishimaru was quite pleased.

He wasn't pleased, of course, about being trapped in a school and being forced to create bizarre robotic bears with fourteen other students.  No, that was quite disagreeable.  There weren't even any classes being held!  How would he ever keep his grades up?!

But while the overall circumstances were distressing, Ishimaru couldn't help but be in a good mood after that morning's hunt for materials.  He had managed to discover quite the treasure, after all.

So it was with a spring in his step that Ishimaru returned from the physics lab to the gymnasium, where he saw that most of his classmates had already returned from their morning assignments and were relaxing on the stage.

"Ah, Ishimaru-kun, you're back!"  Naegi looked up from his notebook briefly—Monokuma had arbitrarily assigned the luckster as the project coordinator—before jotting down a few notes.  "Okay, then we're just waiting for Fukawa-san, Hagakure-kun, and..."

Ishimaru left Naegi to his mutterings and climbed up onto the stage, where all the gathered materials had been dumped into an upsettingly haphazard heap.  He sighed; even after a week, most of his classmates still hadn't learned to keep everything in a more organized manner.  The only exception seemed to be Kirigiri, who knelt by the pile and was beginning to separate the materials by type.

"Is that an integrated circuit?" she asked, taking note of the items Ishimaru held.  "I've begun gathering them over there.  You can put those wrenches with the screwdrivers in this pile here."  She looked up to consider the materials in Ishimaru's arms again.  "And that's..."  Kirigiri trailed off.  "Is that meant to be for construction?"

Kirigiri's question caught Naegi's attention and he craned his neck to see what she was referring to.  "Ishimaru-kun?  What's that for?"  He quickly skimmed his notes, brows furrowed in thought.  "I mean, it might be helpful somehow, but that's not on any of the material lists..."

Ishimaru chuckled, proudly brandishing his newfound treasure.  "No, this is indeed not a construction material!"  He proudly held it up before placing it atop the podium with a _thunk_.  "Behold!"

All students present were paying attention now, and silence fell upon them for a moment as they stared at Ishimaru's new find.

It was a glass jar.

"What the fuck?"

"Aha!"  Ishimaru turned on his heel and pointed an accusatory finger at Owada.  "And that is _exactly_ the problem I wish to address!  Owada-kun, please christen our new Swear Jar with a coin, if you will!"

Owada rose to his feet and strode over to Ishimaru, staring down the hall monitor.  "Why the hell should I?"

"Two coins, please!"

Owada looked like he was about to explode or yell Ishimaru's ear off or both.  Noticing this, Naegi hurriedly scrambled between the two other boys to attempt to diffuse the situation.  "Hey, uh, let's just calm down here!"  He smiled weakly at them both in turn, finally deciding to speak with Ishimaru first.  "Ishimaru-kun, what is this all about?"

Ishimaru crossed his arms and stood ramrod straight, defiantly keeping Owada's gaze.  "Unconventional though our situation may be, I am determined to salvage what I can of a wholesome school life!  The first step will be endeavoring for an environment free of profane language, since _some_ people here have quite the potty mouth!"

Owada growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously.  " _What_ did you just say, you piece of shit..."

"That will be three coins that you owe the jar!"

Naegi struggled to hold back Owada as he tried to advance on the hall monitor.

"So, what?"  Enoshima picked the jar off of the podium, inspecting it as she turned it over in her manicured hands.  "This is that thing where you put money in each time you swear, right?  What are we supposed to put in here, those dumb bear coins?"

"That was the idea!" Ishimaru declared.

"What's the big deal, then?"  She walked over and shoved the jar into Owada's chest.  "If you don't wanna put anything in there, just don't swear.  If you wanna swear, just put one of those worthless coins in there and stop being a little bitch about it."  She paused, glanced at Ishimaru, then sighed and pulled a coin from her cleavage.  "See?  It's literally not a big deal."  She shrugged as she dropped the coin in the jar.

"Enoshima-kun!" Ishimaru yelled, scandalized.  "I appreciate your willingness to participate, but that is _not_ an appropriate place to keep your money!"

Enoshima just stuck her tongue out cheekily.  "We're basically all done here, right?  I'm out, then!  See ya!"  She hopped off the stage and exited the gym, deftly stepping around Hagakure as he entered with arms full of materials from the garden.

Hagakure stumbled slightly before righting himself and looking at the others gathered on the stage.  "Uh... hey, guys.  What's going on?"

Growling in frustration, Owada dug into his pockets and roughly tossed three coins into the jar, then shoved it back into Ishimaru's hands.  " _Fuck_ this shit.  I'm outta here."  He proceeded to then storm from the gymnasium, shoving Hagakure to the side on his way out.

"Owada-kun!"  Ishimaru was hot on the biker's heels.  "That's another two coins you owe to the jar!"

The spacious room fell into awkward silence with the two quarreling students out of the picture.

Hagakure was the first to speak up.  "Like, I still have _no_ idea what's going on here."

* * *

Over the next several days, Ishimaru proceeded to collect an impressive amount of coins.  Some were from Kuwata, and occasionally Enoshima would have to throw one in, but the vast majority of the coins were courtesy of Owada.

By the third day, Owada was desperately seeking any avenue to avoid the Ultimate Moral Compass.

"Come on, Naegi, _please!_ " he hissed, bearing down on the smaller boy in the most intimidating way possible while technically begging for mercy.  "You've gotta assign me to be far, _far_ away from him!  I can't take this shit anymore!"

Ishimaru, hovering behind Naegi, lifted the Swear Jar over the luckster's head to shake it under Owada's nose.  "One coin," he instructed.

"Uh..." Naegi shrunk behind his notebook meekly and made a show of shuffling through its pages.  "But, well, the two of you have gotten good at scavenging, and we desperately need oil paints, so I kind of wanted both of you in the art room today..."

"One coin, Owada-kun," Ishimaru repeated.

"You could choose _any_ of us to search the fucking art room," Owada seethed.  "There are fifteen of us!  It doesn't have to be me and him!"

"That's two coins now, Owada-kun!"

"Um..."  Maizono, who had been assigned cleaning duty, halted her mopping of the gym floor to raise her hand tentatively.  "Couldn't you maybe... just not curse?"  She paused before adding, "Also, you guys are kind of in the way, so..."

Naegi smiled nervously at the biker.  "Well, I mean, everyone else has gone off to do their assignment already, so someone has to search the art room... You could try what Maizono-san said and stop cursing."

"I can't just _stop cursing!_ " Owada yelled.  "It's in my fucking blood!  Give me a break, Naegi!"

"Three coins, Owada-kun!"

"A break... right..."  Naegi looked down at his notebook and jotted down a few adjustments.  "Then Owada-kun, you can spend today resting instead."

Owada blinked down at Naegi for a moment.  "That's not exactly what I meant by a break," he muttered.

Ishimaru shook the Swear Jar one more time, the coins inside jingling expectantly.  "Owada-kun, you owe three coins."

* * *

A week into the exercise, Ishimaru had already gathered enough Monocoins to fill two-thirds of the jar.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that.  While it was strangely satisfying to see how his collection had grown, that was _not_ the point of the Swear Jar.  In fact, it was the complete _opposite_ of the result he had hoped for!  Ideally, his classmates would have curbed their profane language entirely, putting an end to the coin collection.

Perhaps that was an unfortunate side effect of accepting coins that could easily be picked up around the school as currency...

But the more immediate issue, he mused, was that the jar was quickly filling up and would soon overflow.  Even at two-thirds full, it was becoming awfully heavy, and Ishimaru was ashamed to admit that he wasn't looking forward to spending his free time that day carrying it around the school to monitor his classmates as usual.

So what was he going to do with all those coins?

"So what are you going to do with all those coins?"

Ishimaru stumbled backward in surprise, so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the animatronic bear popping into his room.  "Monokuma, sir!" he gasped, then quickly righted himself, facing the cackling bear with the poise and attention deserved of a school's headmaster(?).  "Actually, I was just wondering that myself!  I hadn't considered what I would actually do with the money I collected."

"Hmm, yes..."  Monokuma considered the jar thoughtfully, pacing before the desk it had been placed upon.  "You certainly do have a lot of them.  I don't even know how you bastards got your hands on so many!  You're not supposed to be able to search for coins in this mode!"

"Excuse me?"

"So!"  Monokuma blatantly ignored the question and faced Ishimaru directly, his red eye gleaming.  "Ishimaru-kun, do you know of the Monomono Machine in the school store?"

Ishimaru thought back; he had taken a look at the school store only once.  When he had quickly realized that it didn't offer anything actually conducive to an educational school life—not even notebooks or pencils!—he had left and hadn't thought of it since.  "No, I can't say I'm familiar with it," he said carefully.  "What is it?"

Monokuma laughed that signature laugh of his.  "It's a capsule machine, of course!  Everyone knows that any store worth its salt has at least one capsule machine for the frothing masses to throw their money at, hoping for that one super-duper-secret-rare treasure to pawn off on eBay for grossly inflated prices!"

Ishimaru had only understood about one-tenth of that explanation.  "What?"

"You should go give it a try," Monokuma urged, yet again disregarding Ishimaru's confusion.  "I mean, it's the only thing you can use those coins for, anyway.  I've stuffed that machine full of goodies to appeal to all sorts.  There's something in there for everyone!"

Ishimaru was hit with a sudden spark of inspiration.  "That's it!  That's how I can encourage others to stop using such profane language!  Thank you, Monokuma, sir!"  Ishimaru picked up the jar of coins and, with a polite bow, left his room, ignoring the mechanical bear's laughter echoing behind him.

His new plan was a simple application of positive reinforcement: he would use the Swear Jar's proceeds to stock up on a variety of different items, which he would use to reward his classmates for proper behavior.  If Monokuma's statement was true that there was something in the machine for everyone, then surely there would be a prize in there valuable enough to convince even Mondo Owada to change his ways!

Ishimaru quickly arrived at the school store and was immediately able to locate the Monomono Machine—the garish black-and-white box contrasted starkly against the musty colors of the rest of the room.  Eager to ease the strain on his arms, he wasted no time in feeding the many, many coins into the machine.

True to Monokuma's word, all manner of items came tumbling out of the machine with each turn of the dial, ranging from the typical corner-store fare to the completely bizarre.  The machine seemed to have everything from toys to hair clips to books to military rations (which puzzled Ishimaru, as he was fairly sure they didn't have an Ultimate Soldier among their ranks).  At one point what seemed to be a pair of disembodied hands fell out of the machine, which he inspected cautiously before flinging them across the room in horror when he realized it was, in fact, a novelty brassiere.

He did _not_ want to find out whom Monokuma had intended _that_ gift for.

Before long, most of what was coming out of the machine were duplicates of items that Ishimaru already had, but he figured that his classmates might appreciate receiving multiples of their favorite prizes, so he didn't worry too much.  It was becoming quite repetitive, however, and the pile of presents was growing so large that Ishimaru had to wonder how they had all fit inside the machine in the first place, or how he would even carry them all back to his room...

And then his thoughts came to a halt when a completely new item fell out of the machine.

He picked up the metallic gray box curiously, and upon turning it in his hands, he noticed a large red button encased in a hinged glass cover.  It seemed to be a switch of some sort, and upon further investigation of the box Ishimaru noticed the words "Escape Button" written on the casing in black marker.

Well, that certainly sounded promising!

Excitement growing inside his chest, Ishimaru took another look at the red button, and saw that there was that same black writing along its edge, reading, "Press for activation!"

Not being one to defy such direct instructions, Ishimaru promptly flipped up the glass hatch and pressed the button.

The next thing Ishimaru knew was a searing pain spreading through his body, and then complete darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mention this at the start, but this fic also borrows elements from Danganronpa IF. Obviously. Ehehehe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "this will be two chapters long and I will update with the rest tomorrow"
> 
> more like "I'm trash never listen to a thing I say"
> 
> Yeah so this will actually be three chapters plus an epilogue. I'll post the rest tomorrow. For real this time! It's basically all complete and ready to go up I swear!! Besides, tomorrow is a very special day...

Kiyotaka Ishimaru was in pain.

His head was pounding as he opened his eyes, and he wasn't sure if that was from falling on the floor or from the apparent electric shock that had coursed through his body.  He sat up slowly and then picked up the so-called Escape Button again, noting that there was a small needle sticking out.  That must have been what shocked him.

Well, that was a very dangerous prank!  Ishimaru frowned at the button, deciding that it would be best to dispose of it before anyone else could hurt themselves on it.  He also needed to clean up the collection of prizes scattered about the floor...  Ishimaru glanced at his wristwatch.  All of that would have to wait; it didn't seem that he had been knocked out for very long, but he was still rather short on time.

Sixth period was about to start, and he had to get to class.

His limbs felt heavy with exhaustion, but he pushed himself to his feet regardless and then left the school store to head towards the stairs, pausing only to grab the significantly lighter Swear Jar on his way out.  He couldn't shake the feeling that something seemed odd about his surroundings as he climbed to the third floor, but he opted to disregard that, focusing instead on getting to his class.

Come to think of it, he didn't have anything to take notes with, did he?  All he had on his person was the jar, and the button that he had placed in his pocket, intending to bring it to the trash room after class.  He was disappointed with himself for being so unprepared for school, but he didn't have the time to go back before the start of the lesson.  He'd just have to make do without, he supposed.

When Ishimaru arrived at the classroom, he was relieved to find that class still hadn't begun yet—in fact, he was the first to arrive, before even the teacher.  It struck him as being a little odd, but he was too pleased with himself for being so punctual despite all the trouble he had met with to worry too much about it.

So he sat down at his usual seat—front row, right in the middle—and waited for class to start.

And he waited.

And waited.

Fifteen minutes passed, yet Ishimaru was still sitting alone in the classroom.  He frowned down at the time displayed on his watch; yes, it _was_ the correct time for sixth period to start.  So why had no one else arrived for class?  The teacher was nowhere to be found, either... He stared hard at the face of his watch.  If he had known class was delayed, he would have taken that opportunity to get his class materials.  Did he want to risk going back for them at this point?

Just as he was considering leaving, the door slid open and he whipped his head up to see Monokuma entering the room, panting and wheezing.

"Monokuma, sir!" Ishimaru exclaimed.  "Did something happen?  Class is starting quite late now!"

Monokuma quickly abandoned his façade of breathlessness and stood upright, tapping a paw to his chin as he considered Ishimaru carefully.  "So you _do_ still recognize me!  I was a little worried when you came all the way up to the third floor for no reason!"

"It's not for no reason!" Ishimaru protested.  "I'm here for class, of course!"

Monokuma shrugged and shook his head, then waddled up to the teacher's lectern.  "It's no wonder that you're a little confused, so I'll give you a pass for now.  I'm just glad someone finally showed up for Monokuma's Beary Special Seminar!  It's about time one of you bastards bothered to attend!"

Ishimaru's large eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  "I don't understand.  I come to class every day!"

Monokuma made a sound as if he were clicking his tongue (though Ishimaru wasn't sure he had one).  "In that case, Ishimaru-kun, let's begin with a pop quiz!  Answer me this question..."  The mechanical bear pointed at his student dramatically.  "What are you meant to be doing in this school?"

Ishimaru was silent for a moment.  What was he meant to be doing?  Well, obviously school was for attending classes and earning an education!  But now that he really thought about it... if he thought back on the past two weeks of his life... "We're supposed to be building your spares," he said slowly.

"Exactly!"  Monokuma slammed a paw upon the lectern.  "And if you bastards had been doing a better job of it I could have had one stationed up here instead of having to climb all the way up the stairs on my own!"

Ishimaru stared at his hands folded together atop his desk.  "But... this makes no sense.  Why..."  He trailed off, not entirely sure what he planned to ask.  Why were there no classes being held?  Why had he thought there would be?  Why were they in such a situation in the first place?

"Fortunately for you, I'm here to answer all of your questions!  Well, unless I decide I don't want to, of course.  That's what my Beary Special Seminar is about!"  Monokuma walked down the column of desks and stopped by Ishimaru's chair.  Without even asking for permission, he (very rudely!) stuck his paw into Ishimaru's pocket and extricated the button, holding it up proudly.  "Do you know what this is, Ishimaru-kun?"

Well, that was an easy one.  It was written right on the button's casing!  "That's the Escape Button that came out of your Monomono Machine."

Monokuma nodded, taking the button with him as he returned to the lectern.  "Correct!  Though you probably thought that meant it would open up a physical escape route out of the school building, right?  Sorry, but that's not the case!  Instead..."  He began laughing wildly.  "This button messes around with your memories!"

"That's horrible!" Ishimaru yelled, standing up from his seat.  "How is that even possible?!"

"Oh, it's possible!"  Monokuma continued chuckling to himself as he continued.  "How else would you explain why you were sitting here waiting for class to begin?  Here, in a classroom where you've _never_ attended any classes?"

Ishimaru frowned, thinking over Monokuma's words for a moment.  He couldn't deny that there was something not quite right about his memories at that moment—it was true that he hadn't attended any classes since being tasked with building the spare robots, but he also knew that he had perfect attendance when it came to school.  And...

He took a closer look at the room he was in.

This was the old school building, wasn't it?

Ishimaru wasn't sure where that thought came from, why it was a piece of information he would be privy to, nor what it even really meant.  There was one thing he was suddenly certain of once it had occurred to him, though: he had, indeed, never attended any classes in this classroom, or on this floor, or even in this building.

He couldn't quite identify why that was such a shock.

"In any case," Monokuma continued, breaking Ishimaru out of his reverie, "this device isn't so strong that it would make any drastic changes all at once.  So you don't need to worry!  Judging by these results, it looks like it starts by affecting only the memories most important to you!"

"That's even worse!"  Ishimaru was completely baffled.  "That is a gross invasion of of my personal rights, Monokuma, sir!  Please fix my memories at once!"

"Oh, they'll fix themselves on their own," Monokuma said airily, waving a paw.  "It might take a while, but in due time your memories will be _just_ like new!"

Well, that was somewhat of a relief, Ishimaru thought.  "How long will that take?" he asked warily.

Monokuma made a show of being in deep thought before responding.  "Nah, I'm tired of answering your questions now!  Class dismissed!"

"Wait!" Ishimaru shouted as Monokuma hopped off the lectern.  "Monokuma, sir—"

"I'll be taking this with me, too!"  Monokuma waved the Escape Button in the air as he made his way to the exit.  "It would be _so boring_ if you use this to collude with someone else, after all!  Toodles!"

"Wait—!"  Ishimaru dashed to the door after the bear, but by the time he reached the hallway, Monokuma was nowhere to be found

Instead, Mondo Owada stood at the head of the stairs, stopped mid-step and staring down the hall at Ishimaru in shock.

"What the he...eck were you doing in there?"

Ishimaru paused, but he saw no reason to lie, so he answered honestly.  "I was in class..."

Owada's brows drew together in bewilderment.  “What?  You're even weirder than I thought."  He sighed, then took the few steps towards the rec room.  "Well, that's got nothin' to do with me.  Bye."

"Ah!"  Before Ishimaru could think, he was following after Owada.  "Let me join you, Bro!"

Owada froze stock still with his hand on the doorknob, causing Ishimaru to stop short before he could run into the biker.  The taller boy turned around slowly, glaring down at Ishimaru.  "What the hell did you just call me?"

Ishimaru's face fell, feeling as if he were withering under that gaze.  "Ah... I called you 'Bro,' of course?"  Even as the words left his lips, Ishimaru's mind was whirling with confusion.  He wasn't so much confused as to why Owada would be his "Bro"; it came so naturally that it seemed wrong to question that.  For the life of him, however, he couldn't remember how, when, or why they had arrived at that point of friendship.

Owada took a step away from Ishimaru and his expression hardened.  "We're not bros.  We never have been.  If you're trying to come up with new ways to keep hounding me for your dumb jar, predendin' that we're tight isn't the fucking way to do it."  His eyes burned with barely-controlled anger.  "I don't let just anyone be my bro, and I'm sure as _hell_ not going to let you.  So stop saying weird shit."

Ishimaru felt entirely like there was ice pooling in his stomach, but he nodded stiffly all the same.  "Yes, I... I apologize.  I'm not quite sure what came over me."  Even as he was saying them, Ishimaru felt that the words were wrong.  He felt betrayed.  Betrayed by Owada, and betrayed by himself.

But he couldn't figure out why.

Owada returned the stiff nod, but his knuckles were white as he opened the door to the rec room, so he was clearly still angry.  Ishimaru didn't understand.  He felt he was acting completely normally, so why would Owada display such a reaction?

He watched as Owada disappeared into the room, but just before shutting the door behind him, Owada growled out, "Now just leave me the fuck alone."

Belatedly, through the haze of all his other thoughts, Ishimaru realized that he'd have to demand Owada for another five coins for the jar.

* * *

By the time dinner came around, Ishimaru's mind was still whirring with new information and fragments of memories that he couldn't even be sure were real.

Usually dinnertime was a time to laugh and chat and scold his classmates for improper table manners, but Ishimaru found himself unable to focus on even transporting the food to his mouth.  Instead, he idly stirred the plate of curry that Asahina and (in theory) Togami had prepared without taking a bite.  (And though he certainly wasn't going to complain after his classmates had worked so hard, he was honestly getting tired of curry anyway.  It seemed that most of the teams on the cooking duty rotation he had set up didn't actually know how to cook anything else.)

In the few hours since pressing the Escape Button, some thoughts had become clearer, but at the same time that only presented more questions, because none of it made sense.  It was like trying to complete the last of a jigsaw puzzle using pieces from a differently-cut puzzle of a similar image.  Nothing fit correctly, and some pieces seemed to belong in spots that were already filled.

For one thing, there was the building that he and his classmates were trapped in.  He had thought it was odd that he had suddenly identified it as "the old school building," so he had focused on that and was horrified to realize that _they were in a building that was strictly off-limits_!  It had been closed off from entry very shortly after their entrance ceremony, a rule that started to be even more heavily-enforced half a year later... But Ishimaru could clearly remember their bizarre entrance ceremony and everything that had happened since.  There had been no call for them to vacate the building, and it _certainly_ hadn't been half a year since then.

So he was quite sure that it must have been a false memory resulting from Monokuma's prank.  Still, just the thought that they could be stuck somewhere they weren't even allowed to be was enough to put Ishimaru on edge.

And then there was the issue with Owada.  For whatever reason, he was inclined to suddenly consider Owada to be his best friend—his soul brother, even.  It didn't make any sort of logical sense, and Ishimaru couldn't come up with any reason that he would ever _want_ to befriend such a hooligan, so it stood to reason that that, too, was a fabricated memory.  But the idea of just dismissing that as fake was...

It was...

Ishimaru was shaken from his thoughts when he heard the scraping of a chair against the linoleum floor, and he looked up to see Asahina standing up and beginning to walk to the exit holding a plate of curry.  Curious, he called out to her.  "Asahina-kun, where are you going?"

The swimmer grinned down at him bashfully.  "Well, Enoshima-chan said she wasn't feeling too good, so I'm bringing her some dinner to eat in her dorm room!"

"Guess Naegi went and overworked the poor diva," Kuwata chuckled, lightly kicking Naegi's chair from across the table.

"I— I didn't!" Naegi defended, holding his dish steady as he was jostled in his chair.  "I mean, I didn't think I did?  I thought I was doing a pretty good job at telling when people needed to rest..."

Ogami hummed in thought.  "No, you were doing fine.  I hadn't noticed any particular deterioration in her stamina either..."

"So the bitch is playing hooky," Owada determined.

Everyone paused, then turned to look at Ishimaru, who was caught off-guard by the sudden attention brought upon him.  "Y-yes?"  He had only been half-paying attention to the conversation, but he was fairly sure that what they were discussing didn't have anything to do with him.

Fujisaki worried her bottom lip between her teeth.  "Uh, maybe Enoshima-san wasn't overworked?  Maybe there's a cold starting to go around, and now Ishimaru-kun, too..."

"Oh, that might be it..."  Maizono stood up and lightly stepped towards Ishimaru, then placed a hand upon his forehead.  Confused, he tried to lean away.  "It doesn't seem that he's particularly feverish..."

"I am not sick!"  Ishimaru pushed his chair back and stood up, careful not to knock over the pop star.  "It is part of a student's duty to stay in top form at all times for optimal academic performance!  I thank you for your concern, but I am feeling just fine!"

Celes giggled, placing a hand over her mouth.  "If you are so well, then, why have you not demanded that Owada-kun pay the Swear Jar?"

Ishimaru paused, then looked over at Owada.  He... had to admit that he hadn't really been paying any attention.  Had Owada sweared just then?

"Look, there's definitely something wrong with you," Owada sighed.  "You've been actin' weird since midday.  Well, weirder than usual.  What gives?"

Ishimaru frowned; he couldn't deny that Owada's words had stung him a bit.  "By weird, are you referring to what I said to you this afternoon?"

Owada's eyes flashed dangerously.  "It's more than that, but yeah, that's definitely a big part of it."

"That was _not_ weird," Ishimaru said forcefully.  He didn't know why he was getting so worked up over something that he knew must have been a fabricated memory, but he just couldn't bring himself to admit that Owada wasn't supposed to be his best friend.  And he couldn't handle hearing Owada say the same.  "I was completely sincere in what I said, and I would thank you not to dismiss me so callously."

"You fuckin' asshole," Owada growled as he stood up from his seat.  "Treatin' the bond between brothers so lightly... You tryin' to insult me, huh?"

" _You_ are the one insulting _me_!" Ishimaru shouted back, standing up in turn.

All eyes were on the two boys.  Naegi looked about ready to try and mediate again, and Fujisaki wrung his hands nervously as he glanced between the two.  A few seats down, Ishimaru heard Fukawa mumbling something and breathing heavily, but he couldn't quite make it out before Togami rudely hushed her.

Owada took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead before speaking again.  "Look, I don't know what brought about this change in you, but it's just fucking weird, all right?  It's freaking me out.  Is there some sort of explanation you have for whatever the hell happened?"

"I..."  Ishimaru paused briefly as he considered.  There wasn't any reason to keep his classmates from knowing what Monokuma had done to him, was there?  But something inside him was giving him the feeling that doing so would bring about dire consequences.  That it was perhaps best that his classmates stayed ignorant of...

Of what?

Was there something terrible that Ishimaru had stumbled upon?

Maybe it would be best to just confide in Owada first...

Ishimaru shut his eyes tightly, frustrated with himself that he couldn't even shake the sudden fixation on Owada.  "Perhaps you all are right.  I don't think I'm feeling quite well, so I'll retire for the night."

"Ah, Ishimaru-kun!" Naegi called out as Ishimaru stood back from the table to leave.  "I'll let you rest for tomorrow then, all right?  You don't have to show up to search for materials."

Ishimaru considered that; he wasn't really feeling sick, beyond the lingering effects of the electric shock, and he couldn't in good conscience skip out on his commitments while his classmates did their work.  On the other hand, a rested mind is a productive mind, so maybe it would be in his best interests to take a day off to gather his thoughts.  "Thank you, Naegi-kun, I think I will.  If I feel better later in the day, I may show up to help with whatever assembly can be done then."  He then gave his classmates a shallow bow before leaving the dining hall and heading to his dorm room.

Yes, it would be best to mull over his thoughts on his own for a bit.

It would only worry his classmates to know that perhaps the image on the new puzzle wasn't as similar as he had thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, Ishimaru!

Kiyotaka Ishimaru was confused.

He woke up the next morning with the unsettling feeling creeping along his skin that he didn't even know who he was supposed to be.  His thoughts were a jumbled, disorganized mess, a mix of concrete memories and half-formed delusions and quickly-disappearing fragments of dreams.

Sorting through them was a more daunting task than organizing a pile of Monokuma building materials.

He soon gave up on trying to remember what he had dreamt the night before—something about cleaning duty and Mondo Owada and a girl he both did and didn't know.  Whatever it was, it was forgotten far too quickly to dwell on.

That left Ishimaru with... not much more than he had had the night before.  He was quickly able to piece together all the memories that had made him who he was up until the day before, and the rest were the nonsensical false memories that Monokuma had instilled in him.

At least, he _hoped_ he had accurately separated the two categories.

A chill ran down his spine as he realized that it was becoming difficult to differentiate between them.

Notes.  He needed to take notes.  He tumbled from his bed in a quite unbecoming fashion and scrambled for the pen and notepad that had been sitting on his desk from the moment he arrived at Hope's Peak.  Note-taking was the keystone of a student's livelihood, so surely that would help him to figure out what was going on.

Pen in hand, he began jotting down everything he knew for a fact that was true about himself, starting from his birth and continuing in chronological order.  When he had written an entire page and had only gotten as far as his kindergarten years, however, he realized it probably wasn't the most efficient approach to take.  Instead, he turned to a fresh page and began recounting what he knew to be Monokuma's fake memories.

_1\. This building is the old Hope's Peak campus._

There wasn't much to consider about that point—Ishimaru had no context from which to draw that conclusion, so it had to be nonsense.

Despite being nonsense, he dutifully jotted down a related point just beneath it.

_2\. This building is off-limits, and we should not be here._

No, Ishimaru thought suddenly.  There was no problem with them being in the old school building—in fact, that's where they were _supposed_ to be.  He had agreed to it, just as all his other classmates had.

He paused to process that thought.  He couldn't say where it had come from... but for some reason, he knew that he had been asked to stay locked up inside the old school building, and he had agreed.

Because Headmaster Kirigiri had wanted to keep them safe.

Ishimaru frowned.  That line of thought didn't make much sense... could that possibly be true?  Was there really something dangerous outside that they needed to be protected from?  Had he ever spoken with the headmaster of Hope's Peak, besides Monokuma?

No, it was definitely false.  The outside world had been perfectly fine when he had entered the school those few weeks earlier.  A little too politically corrupt, but that's what he yearned to change himself, after all.  And conflating the headmaster of Hope's Peak with the name of one of his classmates was simply too illogical to be more than the effects of Monokuma's little prank.

Still, the thought that he and his classmates weren't actually trespassing was somewhat reassuring.

He continued to the next line of the notebook.  Through all the fractured, incomprehensible thoughts floating through his mind, there was only one more false memory that was clear enough to assign words to.

_3\. Mondo Owada is my best friend._

Ishimaru's pen hovered just above the page as he considered those words.

False memories.  He was writing down _false_ memories.  The point of this exercise was to isolate all the thoughts that were undoubtedly fabricated by Monokuma's prank.

He crossed it out.  That one wasn't false.

But he had no memory of a history with Owada.  He couldn't remember becoming friends with him.  It had to be fake.

_4\. Mondo Owada is my best friend._

He crossed it out.

It couldn't be fake.

But logically, it had to be.

_5\. Mondo Owada is my best friend._

It wasn't until his wrist was sore and throbbing that he noticed he had repeatedly scratched out the words hard enough to pierce through the next eight sheets of paper.

* * *

After his failed note-taking activity, Ishimaru spent the rest of the morning doing radio calisthenics in his room.  The light exercise helped to clear his mind, at least temporarily, and he was finally feeling refreshed enough to join up with his classmates again.

By the time he entered the gym, it seemed that everyone else had returned from their chores and were busy organizing the materials by type (they had finally gotten into that habit!).  Ishimaru quickly located Naegi and walked over to him, offering a greeting.

"Oh, Ishimaru-kun!"  Naegi smiled brightly as he approached.  "Are you feeling better today?"

"Very much so!" Ishimaru responded confidently, though apprehension still lurked in the corners of his mind, where he had pushed all the rest of the disturbing thoughts from the past day.  Whatever those fabricated memories were, he couldn't let them interfere with his school life.  "Is there anything I can help out with?"

Naegi hummed thoughtfully as he flipped through his notebook.  "Well, it's only been a few days since we got the new concept, so we don't have much to put together yet..."  He looked over at the materials piled on the stage.  "You could go see if anyone's putting the gas burners together yet.  We need help brainstorming a design, too.  We haven't really decided what a 'Cooking Mamakuma' is supposed to be..."

Ishimaru nodded and began to head towards the stage.  "Very well!  I'll see what I can do!"

"Don't push yourself, though!" Naegi called after him.

Giving his classmate another nod, Ishimaru walked towards the collection of materials, stepping carefully around screws, books, and dustcloths.  Indeed, there wasn't much to be done on construction yet.  Owada seemed to be building the gas burners... but remembering how poorly his last interaction with the biker had gone, Ishimaru turned on his heel and approached Yamada and Fukawa instead.  The two writers were sitting by a half-constructed Monokuma head and arguing over a sketchbook full of concept sketches.

Ishimaru wasn't particularly the creative sort, but he could at least try to alleviate their argument!

He walked purposely towards them, maneuvering around the robot's head—

And he paused.

As soon as he had caught sight of the black-and-white face, his senses seemed to grind to a halt.  His eyes locked on to the bear's, and all those disturbing thoughts from the past twenty-four hours threatened to flood to the forefront of his mind.

There was something...

Feeling like he was moving in slow motion, Ishimaru reached down and picked up the robot's head, ignoring Fukawa's indignant command to leave it alone.  Monokuma's face had never particularly caught his attention before, but perhaps he had always been too focused on the bear's rambling lectures, because there was something about that monochrome face, something floating among those fragmented memories...

Buildings reduced to rubble, fiery cityscapes, and countless figures wearing black-and-white masks.

The image in his mind had only sharpened into clarity for a brief moment, barely enough time for Ishimaru to begin identifying what it was, before it faded back into fuzzy static.  It was gone so quickly that Ishimaru even questioned whether the thought had ever been there at all.

If it _had_ been there, what was it?

It must have been one of those false memories that Monokuma's escape button had caused.  It had to be.  That was the easiest explanation, but Ishimaru continued to frown at the robot head in his hands, unable to dismiss the feeling of restlessness swirling through his entire body.

Monokuma said that his memory would be back to normal after a while.  But as time went on, Ishimaru seemed to be noticing _more_ fabricated memories, not less.  It didn't make any sense.

"Hey, uh, you okay there?"

Ishimaru spun around to see Owada standing next to him, awkward concern marring his features.

"Oh, ah, yes."  Ishimaru slowly and carefully set the head back down upon the surface of the stage, ignoring Yamada and Fukawa's questioning gazes.  "I'm fine, Br—Owada-kun.  I was just thinking to myself for a moment."

Owada stared at Ishimaru for a moment longer before averting his gaze, looking somewhat uncomfortable.  "Yeah, well, you look kind of.  Pale and shit.  Something spook you about the robot?  I mean, I don't think anyone would blame you for it if it did creep you out, but..."

"Yes... yes, that sounds about right.  Monokuma is just an unsettling sight in general, isn't he?"  Ishimaru nodded firmly, trying to convince himself that that was all it was.  It wasn't really working.  "So you have nothing to worry about!  I'm just fine."

There was silence between them for a long moment before Owada suddenly pulled Ishimaru to the side, where Yamada and Fukawa wouldn't be gawking at them.  "Look, so... Naegi told me that you don't really know how to make friends," he started, pointedly avoiding meeting Ishimaru's gaze.  "So I was kinda thinkin' that maybe that's what you're up to by calling me your bro..."

Ishimaru stared up at Owada, brows furrowed.  No, that wasn't quite right.  Owada was supposed to _already_ be his friend.  It made no sense at all, but of all the scrambled thoughts that had emerged over the past day, that was the one thing he could be sure of.

"Hey, don't get mad at Naegi for telling me, all right?" Owada amended quickly, apparently misinterpreting Ishimaru's expression.  "It's not his fault, I basically threatened to beat up the kid if he didn't spill."

Ishimaru shook his head.  "No, that's not— wait, you _threatened a classmate_?!"

"He was being really fuckin' stubborn about it!"

"That's no reason to resort to violence, Bro!"  Ishimaru snapped his mouth shut; he hadn't meant to call Owada "Bro" again, especially since it seemed to make him so angry.  But it was a form of address that just came so naturally... too naturally to be something that was fake.

Owada, however, didn't seem to be angry this time; instead, he sighed, scratched his head awkwardly, then addressed Ishimaru directly.  "Look, if there's something bothering you, I mean... I don't know why you'd consider me your bro, but I don't mind listenin' like a bro would, all right?  And if it's something you don't want others to know about, I heard that Kirigiri chick mention there are no cameras in the bath..."

Ishimaru instantly perked up at those words.  The bath!  Yes!  That was the perfect place to speak with Owada!  "That's an excellent idea, Bro!  Let's go to the bath and deepen our friendship while in the nude!"

"The fu—?!"  Owada took a step backward, a blush creeping across his cheeks.  "Don't say weird shit that can be misinterpreted, asshole!"

Ishimaru laughed, heartily, and for the first time for the past day he really felt as if he meant it.

It almost felt like it could erase those images of flames and destruction from his mind.

* * *

"He— he planted fake memories in your head?!"

Ishimaru nodded; the action caused hot bath water to splash up and into his nose.  Spluttering a bit, he corrected his posture and sat upwards again.  It was quite relaxing to be submerged past his shoulders, letting the warm water melt away all his worries and stress, but it wasn't quite conducive to conversation.

"Yes, well.  He wasn't exactly clear about that, but he said that he had tampered with my memories, and that is when I began thinking of these strange events, and having unusual knowledge that I cannot explain.  Such as this building being the off-limits old campus, and that strange vision I saw of rampant destruction... and that you and I are best friends."  Ishimaru paused.  "But even though I know it must be a trick of Monokuma's, I can't bring myself to accept that it isn't true.  And it... especially pains me to consider the possibility that you weren't meant to be my best friend."

Owada drew his brows together in confusion.  "But that makes no sense.  I mean, I've got no memory of us being friends!"

"Indeed."

"And do these fake memories of yours explain how we became friends in the first place?"

Ishimaru paused and racked his brain.  The reason they became friends...  He suddenly thought of the dream from the night before, but what little he could remember was too vague to be of much help.  Deep in thought, he answered candidly.  "No, I can't quite remember... Monokuma said my memory would be back to normal before long, but I still haven't quite yet—"

"Hold up."  The water splashed lightly as Owada held a hand out to silence Ishimaru.  "You're talking now like this is all stuff that you forgot and are just now remembering, not fake stuff Monokuma planted in your brain."

Ishimaru stared.  "Did I... say something to imply that?"  He hadn't really been thinking of what he was saying, but now that Owada mentioned it, he had said "remember," hadn't he?

That was... a different matter entirely, wasn't it?

Owada leaned an elbow against the edge of the bath, and his face was pale as a sheet.  Ishimaru considered this, concern starting to grow.  "Bro?  Are you all right?  Perhaps you should get out of the bath—"

"Hey, that stuff that Monokuma made you think."  Owada averted his eyes uncomfortably.  "Did that dumb bear actually say it was all fake?"

Ishimaru's thoughts screeched to a halt.  Had Monokuma said they were false memories?  He... hadn't actually _said_ that, had he?  "I..."  Ishimaru gulped, considering the implications.  Monokuma hadn't said that those memories were fake... only that Ishimaru's memory had been _tampered with_.  But... "What else would they be if they weren't fake?"

The words bounced off the tile walls and hung heavily in the air between the two boys.

The answer was simple, of course: if the memories weren't fake, then they had to be _real_.

It would mean that it wasn't a matter of filling an old puzzle with new pieces.  It was a matter of tearing up the old puzzle entirely.

But that couldn't be possible.

After a too-long silence, Owada cleared his throat awkwardly.  "Y-yeah, I guess you're right."

So it was all fake.

Ishimaru must have been mistaken about Owada being his best friend.  Because if he had to acknowledge that as real, that meant everything else should be real, as well.

But...

"Even if you being my best friend was a false memory, does it need to stay that way?"

The words were out of his mouth before Ishimaru could put much thought into them, but even after an initial feeling of embarrassment, he couldn't find it in himself to take them back.  They were, after all, his true feelings.

Owada was silent for a moment, considering.  "I mean... no, I guess it... doesn't hafta be."  A light pink dusted his cheeks, and he scratched his cheek nervously.  "But we don't really know anything about each other, do we?  That's kind of the basics of being bros.  Don't you know anything about makin' fr— oh right, you don't."

"Indeed, I am quite clueless in the matter of making friends!" Ishimaru announced proudly, before considering that perhaps it wasn't something to be proud of.  It was something he had always been somewhat insecure about, after all... but in comparison with what he had experienced over the past day, he was quite glad to grasp onto a facet of himself that he was absolutely sure of.

Owada chuckled low in his throat.  "'Course you are.  Then why don't we start from there, Bro?"

Ishimaru grinned broadly.  "Very well!  Oh, but Bro?"

"Yeah?"

"Please do not forget that you owe eight coins to the Swear Jar!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with the pacing of that last scene, so I'll probably go back and make some edits when I've recovered from the emotional toll this chapter took on me.
> 
> All that's left is the epilogue now, which will be up this evening!


	4. Epilogue

Junko Enoshima was in despair.

The whole "class project" setup had been dreadfully boring from the very start, too free and happy and... _hopeful_.  Necessary though it was, it was all enough to make her sick... And then Ishimaru had pressed the Escape Button, and everything was looking up again.

But Ishimaru hadn't fallen to despair.

Junko had no idea what had transpired between Ishimaru and Owada in the bath—had they rekindled their friendship from their time at school?  Ooh, or had they brought it even _further_?  She was really cursing the inability to install cameras within the bathhouse!  She could have missed out on the juiciest incident so far!  It was so... so vexing!  So distressing, so frustrating, so _wonderful_!

Indeed, when the two had exited the bathhouse, it was with smiles and laughter, arms thrown across each other's shoulders.  It was such a far cry from the despair Junko craved... which was such a shame.  All she wanted was for her beloved classmates to feel that same wonderful despair, but they were just so intent on running from it.

It was only a matter of time, though.  Once there were enough Monokuma backups, the real game could finally begin... and though he had found temporary respite in his friendship with Owada, Ishimaru _had_ activated the escape process, so he could only ignore the slow return of his memories for so long.

Junko looked over at her sister, seated at the other end of the control panel and fiddling with her wig thoughtfully.  Mukuro had been present for the events leading to the two bozos becoming friends the first time—something about Ishimaru taking over her cleaning duty with Owada, somehow resulting in an all-out fight between the boys and Junko had shut Mukuro up at that point because she didn't really give a shit about the story.

The fact of the matter was that it was entirely possible that Ishimaru would recognize Mukuro far too prematurely, so Junko had ordered her retreat—her older sister was an important trump card for the killing game, after all, and it wouldn't do to throw her away before the main attraction even began.  But if Ishimaru was so intent on disregarding the memories that didn't suit him... "Hey, you can get back out there tomorrow, sis."

Mukuro looked up, a questioning look crossing her cool gaze.  "Are you sure?  But I thought—"

"Hey now, don't tell me you ran off and joined the military for all those years and all you managed to learn was how to defy orders?"

Mukuro's face fell.  "No, of course not...  If that's what you command of me, Junko-chan, I'll do it."

"Good."  Junko slumped back in her chair and stared up at the monitors, glowering at Ishimaru and Owada laughing together.  "Man, they're such fucking idiots, I should have known nothing interesting would have come from this.  It's so disgusting, I think I might barf.  Yeah, I'm gonna barf."

"Please don't barf on the machinery, Junko-chan."

"Oh man, did you really think I was gonna barf?!"  Junko cackled madly.  "You're a hoot, sis!  You're so serious all the time, it's, like, totally insane!"

Mukuro's cheeks flushed slightly.  "I— I'm sorry, I just..."

"Man, you're just worthless."  Junko sighed and slumped further down in her chair.  "So can you at least manage to keep an eye on Ishimaru for the time being?  It's not looking like he's taking his memories too seriously for now, so you should be clear, but tell me as soon as anything changes, all right?  Surely you can do that much."

Mukuro nodded, standing from the swivel chair.  "I'll make sure to do so.  I'll see you later, then, Junko-chan."

"Yeah, yeah."  Junko raised a hand in dismissal as her sister headed towards the exit.  She stared up at the monitors again and frowned.  "Maybe Naegi'll get the Escape Button next.  Now _that_ would be interesting."

Mukuro's footfalls came to a halt, and Junko swiveled in her chair to grin across the room at her.

"Don't you think so, sis?"

The soldier was clearly trying to keep a neutral expression, but Junko could read the uncertainty in her eyes as plain as day.

"I _said_ , don't you think that'd be interesting?"

"...If you think it will be, Junko-chan, then I'm sure it will."

"Well duh," Junko spat, turning back to the surveillance monitors.  "Why would I need you to validate me?  You're fucking worthless."

There was a brief silence, punctuated only by the whirring of computer fans.  Mukuro didn't seem to be making any move to leave.

"Junko-chan, don't you think—"

"You better not tell me to pay Ishimaru's dumb Swear Jar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! After all these months, I've finally finished up this story!
> 
> It's left kind of open-ended, but I hope that's not too much of a disappointment. I don't have any plans to follow up any further, so sorry if anyone was hoping for something more concrete!
> 
> Finally, I want to leave a shout-out to Dixxy Mouri and hunterofcomedy on FFN; they were waiting patiently for the update, and if they hadn't reached out to me about the continuation, I might very well have given up when this story was giving me such difficulty. But I'm so glad I finally pushed through and completed it, so I'm very grateful for their support!
> 
> And of course, thank you to anyone who read this fic through to the end, and I sincerely hope you found some enjoyment in it!


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